This will be my second mother’s day as a mother, which is really inconceivable.Â This past year has been full of fear and frustration combined withÂ infiniteÂ joy and love. But most of all, this year was full of wonderful gifts such as, first words (Mommy included), baby steps and loads of hugs and kisses. Today something really special happened and IÂ want to share it with you. Eli who is 1.2 years old, went to my desk, reached out for my sketch book and a pen. He was trying to draw, but nothing came out since the pen still had the lid onÂ (Surly he knows that mother’s day isÂ comingÂ up).Â IÂ instinctively took out some crayons from theÂ drawer and gave them to him. He made his first artwork and I was there to record the moment on filmÂ (I was so amazed by this beautiful moment that I forgot that I left the water in the tub running).Â I thought that it was such a shame that his father wasn’t there to see it and made up my mind to give him the drawing later today. After I bathed, dressed, fed and putÂ EliÂ to bed, I took anÂ envelope and used a “WinnieÂ the pooh and piglet” puncher to make it pretty. If you look at the picture below you will see why I thought that this image is suitable.

Now I’m waiting till he comes home so I can give it to him.Â

What about Mother’s day you ask? Well, if you would scroll down a little you will find an article I wrote a few weeks ago aboutÂ Giving time.

If you are looking for the perfect mother’s day gift, you will find it there.

For me, this beautiful moment with my son was better than any gift in the world… and what better way toÂ celebrateÂ such a gift, than to share it?

I’ve been meaning to post an article about the “experience gift” for over a year, since I love the idea of giving an activity as a gift. Some of you may remember the skyÂ glidingÂ gift or theÂ PhotoÂ sessionÂ gift, since I blogged about them. However, today I want to talk about the “experience gifts” I didn’t write about, the ones that striked out.

I had a great gift idea for some of my more creative friends, a certificate for a craft class of some sort or another.Â I thought I had it all planned out: I arranged for a certificate with the art studio, made sure it was geographically close to theÂ receiver, paid in advance for the class and gave the certificate as a gift. What I failed to understand is human nature toÂ postponedÂ unpleasantÂ tasks such as calling toÂ scheduledÂ anÂ appointmentÂ (Which always feels kind ofÂ awkward). This is what happened to the friends whoÂ receivedÂ a gift certificate for a class or a dinner from me. They were really excited about the gift, but never fully redeemed it. Thinking about it, I Â myself,Â receivedÂ a dinner certificate more than six months ago, and I still haven’tÂ usedÂ it. I was trying toÂ understandÂ why this came to be and I think I got it figured out. I would like to share with you some tips that would help you to successfully give an “experienceÂ gift”. I believe these tips would make the difference between a certificate sitting in aÂ drawerÂ and anÂ unforgettableÂ experience.

Tip number 1: Know your friend

Who is your friend? What kind of person is s/he? wellÂ organized? Has a lot of time? Social orÂ independent?Â Bottom line, If you give this person a certificate would it sit in a drawer with all the other piles of things to do or will that person put it to use. Let me tell you that most people, including myself, would probably forget about itÂ untilÂ it’s to late, even if it’s the most amazingÂ experience on the face of the earth. This is just the way people are. Don’t give a certificate unless you areÂ absolutelyÂ positive that this person would use it.

Setting a time and place is very important. Once a person is invited to a specific time and place, he is more likely to arrive, as apposed to an open invitation that he may or may not choose to take.

Tip number 3: Make an event out of it

Planning the gift as an event is the best way to make sure the gift isÂ fulfilled. You can invite a few friends, or have a privet birthday “date”. By planning an event or meeting you are making it very hard for the person not to come.Â This is the reasonÂ why the sky gliding and photo session worked, they planedÂ as events, and sharing the experience with my friends was just an added bonus.

The holidays are coming and gift idea’s and advise are becoming a real necessity. As a new mother I think I became more critical ofÂ children toys. I find myself asking what is the educational value of the toys IÂ receive and as a designer I really want a toy toÂ develop my child’s creativityÂ skills. My boy is far too young to enjoy any of these toys, but here are my top 5 choices for the creative soul.

1. When my boy grows older my husband and I really want him to be the kid wearing a cape. Whenever we see a child with a cape we imagine are baby boy growing to be a creative little boy with superpowers (He already has a secret power, he melts other peoples hearts). I hope he inherits my creativity, and if he does, this DIY Superhero cape will be on his gift list. I love this gift not only because it would inspire your little one to get creative, but also since after the DIY activity is over, this cape will be perfect for dress up games, keeping that imagination running.

2. My not so secret dream is to learn how to sew. I know that one day I would learn how to do it, butÂ untilÂ then I will sulk for not starting at a young age. If you have a creative little girl who dreams of becoming a fashion designer, get her aÂ sewingÂ machine. I really know nothing about sewing machines so I looked at a sewingÂ forum, where everyoneÂ recommendedÂ buying a real machine. I did find aÂ recommendationÂ for this cute Hello kitty machineÂ at the following blog:Â Sew Store-BoughtÂ .

3. I can’t begin to explain how much I love thisÂ Any-mal SetÂ by Notoys. Â The set containsÂ one table/bench and two stools that are painted inÂ chalkboard. Your childÂ can build a castle, a train tunnel, a cat face, a pirateÂ ship or any other image of his heartsÂ desire. All S/he has to do is draw and play. My kid will have this set even if I have to build my own.

4. When I was a girl I collected Barbie dolls I even had a Barbie Â Ferrari, but I never had a Barbie doll house, and I always dreamed of a home for my barbies. I don’t know if this home I found at EtsyÂ can fit 12 Barbies,but it would be a lot of fun to assemble and decorate. I love the idea of a blank house that you can design by yourself, this is probably the reason I became an interior designer.

5. You should understand by now that I approve of spatial toys that create a creativeÂ environmentÂ andÂ enhances imagination. When I was little we used to build playhouses on trees and playÂ make-believeÂ but today there are endlessÂ possibilities for creating such environments. This cardboard construction setÂ is yet another example for a toy that requires assembly skills and would keep your child occupied with his or hers imagination.

I would like to note that even though some toys seem like they are for boys and others are more likely to fit girls, I would most definitelyÂ consider a girlÂ super-heroine or a boyÂ fashionÂ designer. I was always playing with the boys and grew up to be a girly girl adult with some boyish skills. So break the gender patterns and give those kids something to think about…

Life in the digital world is getting easier in almost every aspect of life. It’s getting hard to think about a world without emails, Facebook, blogs, Apps and well,Â basicallyÂ the internet. In this digital world there are many websites and applications that are trying to help us deal with theÂ elusiveÂ task of gifting, not to mention blogs such as this one. Here are three examples for such wonderful sites which hold a promise for an easier givingÂ experience.

Wantful,Â is a personalized pop-up shop that you create for your recipient. After answering a few questions regarding style, relation to the recipient and your budget, you choose sixteen products which are presented in a cute little gift book. All your recipient needs to do is unwrap it, decide which product they love most, and the product will be sent to them. Wantful is a great website, it is user friendly, well designed and actually fun to use. They really managed to turn the giftingÂ experienceÂ to something you would like to do. If you want toÂ experienceÂ it without actually buying the gift, you can go through the process withoutÂ checkingÂ out. Try it, it’s fun.

Giftly, is an phone app thatÂ allowsÂ you to give experience’s such as a dinner at a restaurant, concert tickets or even a cupcake. I wish I could tell you how and if it works or not, unfortunately, this app isn’t available in Israel so I can’t check it out… But it sounds great! I love the idea of giving an experience rather than a gift. Imagine getting perks fro your friends on your birthday. You could go to different stores andÂ receive fun little gifts, ending the day with dinner and a movie all prepaid by your friends…Â Â I think this is what this app is all about, if it isn’t then that’s a great app idea.

Wishlistr, is a sort of PinterestÂ of gifts. You add links to products you would like to have, and share it with your friends. The idea is really cool, but IÂ wishÂ that the website was more like Pinterest,Â offering a more visual interface. Instead you have titles and links which are not very inspiring and not easy to follow. However, I like the idea of letting people know what you would like toÂ receiveÂ other than have everyone guessing.

Now allÂ that isÂ left for you to do is go online and start giving without leaving your seat…

In theÂ envelope there is a CD with the movie that a close friend of the familyÂ retrieved from an 8mm film. He had it converted specially for my grandmother and the rest of the familyÂ receivedÂ a copy.Â The movie shows, as promised, the 1956Â PassoverÂ dinner. I see my grandmother holding my baby aunt, my father and uncle, sitting with my grandfather and my other uncle listening to my great grandmother who is whispering in his ear.

If you ever read Harry Potter, you will remember the pensive,Â an object used to review memories.The pensive is a shallow stone basin, into which are carved runes and strange symbols. It is filled with a silvery substance that appears to be a cloud-like liquid and gas; it holds the memories of people who have siphoned their recollections into it. Â These memories can then be viewed by a non-participant, third-persons point of view. Seeing this video, made me feel like one looking into the pensive, watching my young father with my great family. It feels very strange, very nostalgic but mostly its veryÂ touching. Such a personal wonderful gift, is really priceless.

My father in law turned 70 this year, and his three sons (my husband and two brothers) decided to give him a special gift: a family trip to Italy. They ordered tickets, rented a car, an Italian villa and planned every detail. They haven’t been on a family trip abroad for over 25 years…So this was a very special occasion. At first he was quite upset that they spent so much money on the trip, but once they arrived in Italy, heÂ realizedÂ that such a family trip is really priceless… They had so much fun together and since my husband felt guilty for leaving me with our then 2 months old baby, he brought home wonderful gifts. Yay!!!

UsuallyÂ finding gifts in a country which has many tourists isÂ difficult, but Italy is somewhat different. First of all theÂ obvious gift isÂ food, you can bring back wine,Â Parmesan cheese, or balsamicÂ vinegar and you are off the hook. The other choice is all the paper goods…Â BeautifulÂ stationary,Â Personalized Ex-LibrisÂ Â stamps for marking your favorite books andÂ monogrammedÂ wax seals that makes you feel like royalty. You really don’t have to put a lot of thought into an Italian gift, you just have to decide whether theÂ recipient would rather have fine Italian products, crafty supplies, or both…

I am very excited to share this next gift with you, and although you might not relate to the “Mad Scientist” algorithm per se, I am sure you know someone who willÂ appreciateÂ this unique gift. Now, before I present you with the gift itself, you may wonder how did I came to know a mad scientist. Well I can’t say I had anything to do with it other than being born to one. Yep, my father is a wellÂ establishedÂ scientist and some would call him a well established madman as well… Although in a good way 🙂

Every year for his birthday, my siblings and I would buy him a penguin classic or a fossil for his collection, but for his 65th birthday I really wanted to get him something special and when I want to find a special gift, I often make a gift algorithmÂ to help me come up with ideas. So as you can see by this gift algorithm, my dad is a rather oldÂ fashioned kind of guy who is into classical music, historic and prehistoric stuff. He also likes to cook, so a good kitchen gadget is always welcome. Don’t let this algorithm fool you, my dad isn’t some, mind my French, “old fart”. Â He is quite funny andÂ youthful, and he is fun to be around… even if he does listen to classical music and collects fossils.Â Just teasing you Dad! I think you are great!

Once I finished the gift algorithm it wasÂ obviousÂ that I should stick to science/history/prehistory, while a quickÂ GoogleÂ search led me to the National Geographic Website, where I found TheÂ Genographic Project. After doing their test, my dad wrote us all an email describing how the test works… He did such a great job, it now makes it easier for me to explain it to you by quoting his e-mail he sent to us:

“Dear all,

The kids bought me for my birthday a kit for the National Geographic Genographic Project which documents “The Human Journey” out of Africa and dispersal throughout the world.

The kit includes a DNA sampling device which scrapes buccal cells from inside of your cheek, which you send back to them Â to get “deep” DNA sequencing, which then gives markers relevant to given global sites where mutations occurred in prehistory.

It is thus possible to detail the journey of our ancestors. You have to choose either the mother’s side (mitochondrial DNA) or the father’s side (the Y chromosome), both of which contain stable regions which basically remain unchanged. From these regions, the extremely rare mutation markers can be detected, which then can be translated to places in the world that reflects the journey of our ancestors out of Africa.

It is only these two sources of DNA (mitochondrial for the mother and Y chromosome for the father ) that are relevant for these studies. The kit asks you to choose one. Obviously, women can choose only the mother’s side, since they don’t have a Y chromosome. Men can choose either side, and I chose the mother’s side which would then document my mother’s side. This means that the mitochondrial DNA can be traced backwards throughout history: My mother received this DNA from her mother (my grandmother) who received it from her mother (my great-grandmother) who received it from her mother, and so on…”

Since my dad is so smart, he was able toÂ predictÂ the results as he continues in his letter:

“Well, it was rather clear to me that the journey of our ancestors went the route up through the Middle East and Central Asia via the Caspian Sea region (the Caucases)Â and then Northward and Eastward into Europe.Â Indeed this is true as you can see by the enclosed map. We have the 2 mutations in our mitochondrial DNA that puts us there about 15,000 years ago. For more information read the description that documents our lineage and journey out of Africa. I expect that this is rather common, but it might be interesting for us to check out the other paths available in our families.

And what about myfather’s Y chromosome? Well, I have another birthday coming up…!”

They say that if you want to know where you are going you have to know where you came from… Personally, I don’t think that’s true, but if it is, my dad should really know where he is going afterÂ receivingÂ his gift. The good thing is, I don’t have to worry about next year… I already know what to get him….

This mysterious box arrived at our house as a gift from our close friend.

Immediately my husband’s face changed colors, his jaw dropped and a grin spread across his face. I didn’t realize what he was grinning about, until I read the cover which readÂ Molecular Gastronomy Kit. Don’t worry if you neverÂ heard aboutÂ molecular cooking, I would’t know anything about it if I wasn’t married to a foodie. In a nutshell, the molecular kitchen is a modern form of cooking. The idea is using techniques derived from theÂ scientific disciplinesÂ in order to create new dishes. The result is a variety of new flavors with surprising textures that most of the time doesn’t really resemble food. My husband hasÂ beenÂ jabbering about the molecular kitchen for ages discussing all the different dishes he could make if he ever learned how to do it.

This gift definitely deserves a spot at the hall of fame of gifts, however, only a true foodie that likes toÂ experiment would reallyÂ appreciateÂ it. If IÂ receivedÂ this gift for my own use, it would most likely stay in the box since I don’t like to cook.Â You have to realize that when it comes to food, I only get excited when it reaches my mouth… I don’t care much about what happens to it in theoryÂ untilÂ it reaches it’s temporary residence in my belly. However, even I can’t stay indifferent to this well packaged gift that would certainly bring new and excitingÂ flavorsÂ into my life.

One of my great friends started studying stage and costumeÂ design. Although she is very talented, she is often insecure about her abilities, which is funny since she is one of the most creative andÂ talentedÂ people I know.Â Since I know how easy it is to forget your talents andÂ strengths while underÂ pressure of studies, I decided to make a small reminder.

I used my poor sewing skills in order to make her anÂ encouragementÂ kit. This kit is basically a small feltÂ envelope filled with felt hearts that carries the words “I can do it”, “I Know”, “I Believe”. The idea is that each time she feels insecure about her capabilities, she can take out the kit and repeat this mantra. Sometimes all you need is a little reminder that somebody believes in you.

My father immigrated from the states to Israel when he was in his 20’s, leaving his family in the U.S. and forming his own family inÂ Israel. As aÂ result,Â I grew up away from my beloved Grandparent’s, uncles, aunt and cousins. Growing up, I would see them every few years, which meant that there were many events that I wouldÂ celebrateÂ without them. Thinking about it, it never made me sad, since I always knew that they are always in my heart, and that they areÂ celebratingÂ with me, even if we are miles and miles away from each other.

Every year on my birthday, my grandmother would send me a birthday card with words of love. Every year I would wait for the mail to arrive a few days before my birthday, but I would always wait until my actual birthday to open theÂ envelope. I have kept all these wonderful cards throughout the years, and I can’t wait to get this years card onÂ April.

When I saw this wonderful Idea byÂ Janae from The Letter 4Â I felt all fussy inside, since it really doesn’t matter how far you are from your loved ones, as long as your hearts areÂ entwined.

The idea is very simple:

You have an event toÂ celebrate with a distant loved one.

You want to let them know you areÂ celebratingÂ with them, even though you are miles away….

Send them a party in an envelope. Simply fill an envelope withÂ various party elements such as confetti,Â balloons, noisemakers etc… attach a card or a note and mail it to their whereabouts.